Yumiko
Yumiko (Yoo-mee-koh) is the resident Rift Wind aspect member of the Phantom Shard Guild. She has been a long time member and supporter of the Guild, though her actions may not at times show it. She can be seen as aggressive towards her fellow Guild mates, but when it comes down to it, she'd do anything to ensure their safety. After training with Firal and upon recieving one of the Sacred Wind Realm artifacts, The Flute of Gabriel, Yumiko disappeared. Many believe she'd gone too far and faded into the wind itself, while the more intelligent know she's taken to exploring deep into the realms of the omniverse. One day she may return. History Early Life Yumiko was born the eldest daughter to the Grand General of the Glorious White Wind Empire in the Realm of Sage. Jezebeth ruled his country in place of their king, who spent most of his time lounging in the capital or praying to White Wind's God, Yuichiryotatsu. Each of the Wind Countries had tier own patron gods. Each of the Gods lived in harmonious accords with the others and would provide their services in exchange for prayer; the very essence that kept them alive. When Yumiko was born, her father cursed her mother for not bearing him a son and treated the young Yumiko as an outcast, refusing to give the girl his name. Being a woman, Yumiko could not inherit Jezebeth's title and property. As Yumiko grew up, she strived to do her very best to get her father's acknowledgement. Being a resident of the Sage Realm and living in a country of Wind did not classify one as a Wind Sage. The title of Wind Sage was granted to those who exibited the extraordinary power to manipulate the bountiful winds that connected each country; a power thought to be reserved for those who were blessed by the Gods. Yumiko developed the symptoms of Sagedom at an early age, which made her an extrememly rare case solely based on the fact that most Sage's were male. Every once in a Red Solstice would a woman become a Sage. Her potential to become a Sage only made her father more angry at her birth. He viewed her gift as a waste. The Hellmount Each of the Sage countries prided themselves on their military exploits. The White Wind militia was seen as the most powerful and coordinated in all the realm. Yumiko had always dreamt of following in her father's footsteps and making him proud; her first step was to join up with the guard, against her mother's wishes. The Hellmount is a large training facility located inside one of the most brutal fortresses Jezebeth could concoct. The facility not only housed gauntlet after gauntlet, surgical enhancement centers, but also a large Colluseum for culling. Each year, amidst the brutal warrior training, Yumiko was forced to face off against her classmates in a tournament; the bottom bracket of losers were either killed in the proceedings or dismissed. All manners of fighting was allowed. Since she was Sage, one would think she'd have the upper hand; if she wasn't a Sage, she certainly wouldn't have survived. After 15 long years enduring the most brutality her father could throw at her, Yumiko remained in the top bracket of her class. Regardless of the excruitiating excercises, Yumiko had managed to make one friend in the Hellmount, a man and higher ranking officer than her, Cpt. Leo Vierick. Leo remained her most steadfast ally throughout the remainder of Sage's life. He was like an older brother to her. Some one who would praise her since now the only potential her father saw in her was her raw, unbridled power. Yumiko was alright with it, though, since at least that meant her father was looking at her. Unfortunately, Leo, for reasons unknown, became an exile from the realm only a few years after they met. The Birth of a King On the eve of her 17th year in the Hellmount, Yumiko became a big sister. Her mother had given birth to yet another child with Sage potential, this time a boy. Her father named him Samael after his father before him and announced him heir to all of Jezebeth's accounts. Crushed after years of her hard work, Yumiko faded from her father's thoughts and the thoughts of everyone. Until one day, she roze up against her father. She gathered a group of rebellious souls and broke free of The Hellmount, charging upon the Grand General's house. The rebellion did not get far, however. Yumiko was betrayed by the leaders and turned over to her father, who, without as much as a batting an eyelash, sentenced her to be cast from the realm and branded an exile. Sensing the darkness in Jezebeth's heart, Yuichiryotatsu stepped down from his Godhood in order to serve as personal familiar to the young rebel. He has been a fast and loyal friend ever since. The Exile Returns A year after her eviction, Yumiko and Leo managed to find each other again. He too, had managed to find a spiritual companion in the form of a Falcon, one of the Vermilion Wind God's brood. Leo told Yumiko many stories about the places he'd been and the people (and otherwise) he'd met on his journey. He and Yumiko continued journeying for another couple years before stumbling upon a way to jump between realms via the use of 'Rifts' in space. This took them far and wide between the different planes of existence. However, inevitably, Yumiko decided to use the rifts to tear down the wards and return back home. Leo warned her that time worked differently depending on the realms, but Yumiko didn't care. The faster time passed in her realm, the better. When they went to access the realm, they hit a wall they'd never encountered before. Yumiko doubted anyone in the Realm had the knowledge to do such a thing. Leo managed to find them a "back door" of sorts into the realm. How, though, he never told her. When they finally crossed the gap in space, the sight that lie before them brought emotions back to Yumiko she never thought she'd feel again. It was the feeling she had the day her father denounced her for his son, the feeling of losing something you'd worked so hard for. The Realm they returned to was nothing but scattered chunks of ruin. The countries were indistinguishable bits of earth scattered amidst a giant void. There were no signs of life OR death, there was just nothingness. They traveled through what was left of the rubble for what felt like days. Finally they found something. Nestled into a patch of transluscent earth was a single tome. It was a history of the realm preserved in matter from the Realm of The Gods. The tome told of the disappearance of the White Wind God and the resulting power struggle following after. General Jezebeth decided that the people needed no Gods and waged war on the neighbooring countries in order to show he was more mighty than they. The departure of Yui sparked something fierce in the man. It turned that Samael had been born mentally and physically crippled. The famed son would almost certainly die before reaching the age of 10, not to mention never be capable of leading Jezebeth's fleets. Jezebeth scoured the libraries and sent raiding parties to Realm of the Gods in order to find some way to fix his son, not out of love, but out of self-preservation. Without a son to carry his title and no daughter, Jezebeth's line was doomed. The war and the labor of childbirth had taken a toll on his wife, causing her to die shortly after the war had begun. Samael was his last hope . One day, he found a scroll depicting ancient beings that could transcend time, doing as they pleased whenever they felt it. By committing the most sinful acts and rituals, he managed to make contact with them. The "Sonneilons" as they were called, were Time Wraithes. They struck a bargain with Jezebeth and delivered to him a son from an alternate timeline; one where Samael was much older and had the strength of 10 Sage's. Pleases, Jezebeth sent Samael to work. However, the Samael that was brought into the world was filled with more hatred and ire than his father could ever know. The boy sought nothing more than to destroy all that ever was. He knew of the existence of other realms from his previous timeline and constructed a hellish portal that would take him to worlds unknown. However, his limited resources caused the portal to collapse and implode, taking the entire realm into it and exploding outward into nothing but fragments. After reading the account, Leo revealed to Yumiko that he had been traveling in order to find a way to bring it all back, but that got him into trouble with the Time Wraithes themselves. They'd been hunting him down ever sicne he tried to bring it back before he "ran" into Yumiko. The limited power Yui had left kept her safe from the Wraithes, but he had to keep running. They were anomalies now. If they were ever to be caught, they'd be eradicated from existence and what had existed. Phantomshard Chronicles After her encounter with Void Sage, Yumiko and Leo were separated. She's been dearching for him ever since. During her travels, she came across a small little Guild in Jakal City. Deciding she might as well do something while searching for him and build up her contacts with those who could also realm travel, she joined up. TBC Wind Sage Realm Country of the White Wind Country of the Yellow Wind Country of the Black Wind Country of the Vermillion Wind Abilities